Rain thought of Gaelen, who had come to Celieria fully expecting to be slain for approaching his sister but nonetheless determined to warn the Fey of the Eld army massing near the Fading Lands and protect his sister from the growing threat of Eld. Dahl’reisen, the soul lost, were supposed to be beyond Fey honor, men well on the path to evil, but he was having trouble reconciling that image with what he had seen of these dahl’reisen who called themselves the Brotherhood of Shadows.

Sheyl and another woman brought Rain’s and Ellysetta’s weapons, and as Rain donned his steel, the women helped Ellysetta into hers.

Still blindfolded, Ellysetta put a hand over one of the Tairen’s Eye crystals set in her hip belt and summoned a weave of Earth to detach the crystal and reset it in a pendant hanging from a gold chain. “It is an ancient custom of the Fey to leave behind a gift in thanks for kindness rendered. I would like you to have this, Sheyl, as a token of my thanks.”

“Nei,” Sheyl demurred. “I know a Soul Quest crystal when I see one, and I know how precious they are. I cannot accept such a gift. It is too much.”

“I want you to have it. The crystal belonged to a warrior named Dajan vel Rhiadi, who sacrificed his life trying to save me from a demon sent by the Eld. Please, take it. May Dajan’s sorreisu’kiyr offer you the same protection its owner once offered me.”

Sheyl looked to Rain for help. “I am the unbonded mate of a dahl’reisen. Such a gift is not proper.”

“You are the woman who healed us after your mate saved our lives,” Rain corrected. “Dajan died in Ellysetta’s service. His sorreisu’kiyr is hers to bestow. It is a fitting gift for the service you and the Brotherhood of Shadows have done us.”

Sheyl glanced uncertainly at Farel, who looked equally as perplexed. Finally, she took the pendant from Ellysetta’s outstretched hands and placed it around her neck. The crystal settled between her br**sts, close to her heart. “Thank you. You do me a great honor.”

Ellysetta held out her hands to embrace the other woman. “Blessings and peace upon you, Sheyl. May the Light always shine upon your path and keep you from harm. Tell Bess I look forward to seeing her again soon, and would you please give this to Bannon and Cerlissa’s adoptive parents for me?” She spun Earth to form a small glass globe into which she wove her fondest memories of Selianne. “When they feel the time is right, I’d like Bannon and Cerlissa to have this… so they won’t forget their mother or how much she loved them.”

“Of course.” Sheyl took the globe.

“We should go,” Farel interrupted. “We have a hard day’s travel ahead of us, and no time to tarry if we’re to meet Gaelen at the rendezvous point on schedule.”

Rain waved an arm. “Lead the way.”

Farel’s gaze flicked to the gathered dahl’reisen. A dozen squads of six warriors each immediately broke into a run and jogged through the thicket tunnel. “Our spotters,” he said. “They will travel ahead of us to make sure the way is clear. Come. Your mate can lose her blindfold once we’re a few miles away from the village.” He turned and jogged towards the tunnel himself, leaving Rain and Ellysetta to follow.

Rain took Ellysetta’s hand and wove Spirit to guide her steps. The remaining dahl’reisen followed after them. Stoic women stood beside their children, eyes dry and faces pale as they watched their dahl’reisen loved ones depart.

When the warriors were gone, Sheyl turned to the remaining villagers. “The Tairen Soul has offered us shelter in the Fading Lands until this war is over. We leave in three bells. Hurry! And pack only what you can carry without hardship. It’s a long walk to the Garreval.”

The Fading Lands ~ Dharsa

“Why do you have to go, Kieran? We just got here.” Lillis pouted at Kieran, who had joined her for a late breakfast on the most beautiful terrace she’d ever seen to tell her that he and Kiel were leaving and that she and Lorelle should be very good and stay out of trouble while they were gone. Her excitement over being in the magical city of the Fey was completely gone now. All she could think was that Kieran was going away again—and she’d only just got him back!

“Ellysetta and Rain need all the help they can get, so Kiel and I are going to go help them. You want us to help them, right?”

She scowled at the breakfast plate filled with delicious fruits and delicate pastries that almost tasted better than comfits. Her shoe scuffed on the terrace stone beneath her chair. “Yes,” she admitted.

“That’s why we have to go, ajiana. I’m sorry. I know this isn’t what you wanted. But I am a warrior of the Fey, and Rain is my king, and we have to stop the bad people from hurting others the way they hurt the people of Teleon.”

She picked up a small, slender-tined fork and pushed a pile of chilled berries around on her plate. “But I’ll be afraid when you’re gone.” She jabbed her fork into a plump strawberry.

The admission pierced Kieran’s heart as surely as the sharp tines of her fork skewered the berry. He leaned over to press a kiss on the top of her head and closed his eyes against a sting of tears. She’d told him about her time in the Mists, how he hadn’t been there in the “village” and how worried she’d been that something had happened to him. And then she’d woken, broken and in pain, and terrified. And he hadn’t been there again.

And now he was leaving her.

He pulled up a chair and sat beside her, leaning over to take her hand. “Lillis… ajiana… this is the safest place in the world for you to be right now. If it weren’t, I promise I wouldn’t leave you for any reason.”